Salta & Iguazú (Northern Argentina)

Salta: Green Mountains and Cactus Plains

We took several bus excursions into the mountains around Salta. Apart from the lush green heights, we came upon an enormous highland plain dotted with cacti.

Iguazú: Big Water

Located next to Paraguay, along the border of Argentina and Brazil, the Iguazú Falls are stunning. Wikipedia notes that the "name Iguazú comes from the Guarani or Tupi words y, meaning water, and ûasú, meaning big. Legend has it that a deity planned to marry a beautiful woman named Naipí, who fled with her mortal lover Tarobá in a canoe. In a rage, the deity sliced the river, creating the waterfalls and condemning the lovers to an eternal fall."

The immediate terrain and some of the viewing platforms

The platform leading out to La Garganta del Diablo — The Devil's Throat!

The his-res aerial photo below is by Enaldo Valadares — from Wikimedia Commons.